Facebook
is terrible. We all knew that. We just did not know how terrible it
really is.

The
New York times exposed Facebook's own breach of its privacy rules.
Facebook's data sharing deals with some of the world's biggest companies
raised serious concerns about the social network's approach to privacy.
More than 270 pages of Facebook documents obtained by the Times show
the firm gave certain companies privileged access to user data, including
user names and email addresses through their Facebook friends, despite
the fact that Facebook said it restricted this access in 2014.

In
return, Amazon reportedly provided Facebook with contact lists to
give it a better idea of people's relationships, and allow it to suggest
connections.  It does not make sense for Facebook to look
to Amazon or any other big data miners to suggest connections for
FB users when Facebook itself is one of the largest data miners on
the social media planet. It comes down to data sharing and money for
data access.

Facebook
defended its relationship with partners including Amazon. It said
that it was up to its partners to get consent from users. Our
integration partners had to get authorization from people. You would
have had to sign in with your Facebook account to use the integration
offered by Apple, Amazon or another integration partner, it
said.

Everyone
has become numb by the pop up ads in your social feeds of products
or services you may have Googled in the last 24 hours. For example,
we had a stuck pump soap dispenser. A quick YouTube video search yielded
a film on how to make the pump work. You hold a wrench to the base
and turn counter-clockwise to release the locking mechanism. It worked.
But then, for the rest of the day wrench and hardware ads showed up
in our feeds. It seems the big players are not selling data lists,
but real time access to their customer's keystrokes.

It
begins the dark thoughts of a Big Brother society where the big data
platforms know everything about you.

It
has begun to sting users in unusual ways. Facebook claimed it was
going to curtail fake news and hate speech on its platform. Instead
of being merely a platform distribution service, it was going to use
AI to filter through posts to eliminate unwanted content. That means
Facebook is taking itself out of a safe harbor and into the realm
of editing published content. By being responsive to some criticism,
it has begun to interfere with user preferences.

It
starts to block reviews, comments and links between an artist and
a fan under the guise that there is an illicit connection between
the two - - - - like a undisclosed pay-to-comment relationship. But
it most likely is merely a personal opinion post and not an undisclosed
paid influencer at work. The FTC now requires all social media
influencers to disclose their product placement relationship and payments
to its viewers. But Facebook's use of its connection data, such as
follows and likes, is without any context to block communication between
friends, colleagues or admirers.

Facebook reportedly did not let users know this data sharing, and
block programs were happening nor get their consent. Amazon declined
to tell the New York Times about its data sharing deal with Facebook
but said it used the information appropriately. Amazon
claims it uses APIs provided by Facebook in order to enable Facebook
users to experience its products. Ó Why was Facebook giving out this
data about its users to other tech giants without explaining the benefits
to either Facebook or its individual users.

It
is another terrible publicity nightmare for Facebook. It is still
getting jabbed for being played as a conduit for alleged illegal election
manipulation by foreign agents. Facebook continues to claim that its
enhancements are for the betterment of the user's experience, but
advertisements are getting more feed space and actual links to friend
posts are getting increasingly haphazard to read. The top story sort
seems to be the default that most do not want. The most recent post
setting is fine, but it is mashing an evergreen mentality on re-filtering
old posts without any updates (but some may be linked to a preceding
advertisement). Some users now have to go to their personal friend
settings page to find out who has made recently made posts, click
on their friends' own home page just to catch up with their activities.

Some
would call this a downgrade to the original FB experience, especially
if you have to dig for your own new posts. But others would call this
a form of social engineering; FB is controlling what and how you view
information without regard to your personal preferences, settings
or privacy.

British
graffiti artist Banksy's latest work is a corner turner on his view
on climate change and the environment. The unknown artist who has captivated
the art world by his pranks has used his mysterious mantra to make timely
social commentary.

Source:
aol.com

A
happy face logo has been turned upside down by unhappy Amazon employees.
As Amazon becomes the planet's global source and shipping company, overworked,
overstressed and underappreciated workers are beginning to lash back
with protests, social media gripes and union talk about alleged sweatshop
distribution centers. Further complicating Amazon's management is that
the highly profitable company got billions in corporate welfare from
D.C./Virginia and NYC to build new corporate offices, which will probably
displace many middle and lower class people.

Source:
Gizmodo

cyberbarf

RESOLUTIONS!
COMMENTARY

2018
was a year of a glacial thaw towards change. It was a simple philosophy
to get outside one's current comfort zone, explore new things,
socialize, and be more creative away from the daily grind of work.

But
incremental progress needs to have some forward momentum to succeed.
You need to focus on a mindset. That is why so many people have New
Year's resolutions as a means to set new goals. In no particular order,
here are some thoughts, ideas, goals and promises made in order to have
a better digital, personal, technological, cultural and rewarding year:

EXPAND
the number of new international news sources to learn about how other
people around the world view America, its principles and policies.

USE
the internet vast resources to view different kinds of programming from
different kinds of content producers, from YouTubers to national networks,
to streaming services and original studio works.

LESS
procrastination on the computer screen as one can easily get lost in
web of distraction.

TRAVEL
more to new places. The Internet is a great free travel guide to explore
new cities, countries and places without leaving your home computer.
But even those virtual experiences pale by comparison of actually going
to those places to experience the sights, sounds, smells and culture
first hand.

BETTER
keep track of current and new friendships. The social media is easy
to click likes and follows, but one should be more engaged and responsive
in your friend's lives and events, even if you cannot be there in person.

EXERCISE
your heart, mind, body and soul more. Physical exercise is important
to overall health, but mental experiences and learning is just as important.
The technology exists to be able to learn new languages, master new
artistic forms, create lasting memories in words or pictures.

BE
NICER to other people. Social media gives one the option of weaponized
snark. It is easy, quick and sometimes unfiltered hurt. The discord
amongst digital relationships is a growing trend which does not bode
well for maintaining a personal level of overall happiness. Human beings
may live solitary lives but we are still social animals.

COMPLETE
what you have started; there is a novel outlined, a series of artwork
sketches to paint, and more stories to tell.

Question:
Whether climate change debate will hinge upon science more than taxation?

*
Educated Guess

*
Possible

*Probable

*
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

*
Doubtful

*
Vapor Dream

Earlier this year, a cryptic press release landed in the inboxes of
journalists. It said CREATIVITY IS NOT ONLY FOR HUMANS. The makers were
a French trio known as Obvious, and their claim was that their artificial
intelligence (AI) had managed to create art. It was the first of a stream
of publicity that heralded the auction of a weird portrait. Christie's
had been expecting less than $10,000 but it sold for $430,000. It was
not praised as being as good art. And those struggling real painters
must not have been pleased with the result. But saying that AI will
take over the art world is false. AI is merely a tool not a revolutionary
being. The artist is not really a painter but a coder who links graphic
bits from data directories to stitch together a final picture. To claim
a computer is creating art like a human is a programmer fantasy.

An
Asian woman named Pony posed in front of her new Lambo supercar. She
is a cosmetics and make up fashionista in Korea who has a two million
following. It may be a successful brag or an illusion of what only the
top 1 percent of YouTubers can achieve: an actual living from creating
their own content. Early on, some of the most famous YouTubers made
some real money, but in the end when they took out the costs of filming,
editing, rent, utilities from the hours they worked, they found out
they were making in profit less than a minimum wage at a fast food restaurant.
The lesson is simple: do what you love to do, and if you are lucky you
can make a living at it. But the reality is most content producers make
little to nothing for their efforts.

Call
of Duty was proclaimed the biggest video game of 2018, racking up
$3.2 billionin profits, just ahead of Fortnite (profit and revenue
figures are sparse because companies are usually private). Video games
now have the look and feel of big Hollywood action-blockbuster films.
The reason is simple: games can vastly outperform a Hollywood film in
terms of revenue. Fortnite and PUBG are other billion dollar
game franchises. The appeal is simple as well: the player is put into
a Hollywood action setting with a simple task to loot and shoot your
way to a victory, usually taking very little time to do so. The high
action, low skill level has made the battle royale concept quite addictive.
It has spawned careers for professional game players and YouTube game
channel hosts. It has also become the bane of school teachers who are
constantly competing against the mobile version of the games in their
students' hands during class.